1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to remote controls and, more specifically, to a remote control for an audio/video device, such as a television. The remote control has an audio circuit for receiving a wireless broadcast of an audio signal associated with at least one of a selected video program from the video monitor and selected audio program from an audio output device. Actuation of a button disables the relay of the audio signal through an output device and instead reroutes the signal to the remote control. The remote control includes a speaker to output the rerouted signal to the user, thus allowing for more private listening. The volume of the audio signal being transmitted through the speaker can be changed by the remote control. The remote control also includes an aperture for insertion of an earpiece, which upon insertion of an earpiece, causes the rerouted audio signal to be output to the earpiece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other speaker devices designed for signal reception. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 2,255,390 issued to Martin on Sep. 9, 1941 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,371 issued to George on May 31, 1983
Another patent was issued to Stendardo on Oct. 22, 1985 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,179. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,774 was issued to Lee on Mar. 19, 1991 and still yet another was issued on Feb. 27, 1996 to Mudra as U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,301.
Another patent was issued to Mudra on Mar. 26, 1996 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,513. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,127 was issued to Lansang on Aug. 11, 1998. Another was issued to Toyoaki on Aug. 17, 1985 as Japanese Patent No. JP60157398 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 14, 1987 to Katsuaki as Japanese Patent No. JP6228777.
Another patent was issued to Masaaki on Oct. 27, 1995 as Japanese Patent No. JP7283964. Yet another Japanese Patent No. JP2001186578 was issued to Young-min Kim on Jul. 6, 2001 and still yet another was issued on Jun. 28, 2001 to Kaufman as International Patent Application No. WO01/47258.